City · Cass County, Iowa

Atlantic, Iowa

Atlantic is a city in Cass County, Iowa. It has 6,763 residents. Atlantic, Iowa has a quality-of-life score of 63 out of 100 (high), ranking #5,790 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Iowa it ranks #235 of 281 cities and towns. It ranks best on average commute time (low), time spent in the emergency room (low) and public libraries (high). It ranks worst on public EV charging ports (low), students per teacher (high) and pharmacies (low).

63High

Quality-of-life score: #5,790 of 15,651 cities and towns
Iowa: #235 of 281 in IA
Population: 6,763 (2020-2024)
Land area: 8 mi²
Density: 815.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 1903520

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 74 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety55#7,002/15,637
Economy28#11,194/15,631
Housing61#5,812/14,977
Health37#9,758/15,609
Healthcare76#3,808/15,650
Environment96#652/15,453
Education38#9,655/15,649
Infrastructure34#10,292/15,650
Community76#3,805/15,651
Leisure & amenities79#3,224/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Atlantic, Iowa ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Cass County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Average commute time · low10.8 min
100/100Iowa 19.8 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Time spent in the emergency room · low86 min
99/100Iowa 128 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesCass County value
Public libraries · high4.6 /10k
99/100Iowa 1.8 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesCass County value
Hospital quality rating · high5.0
98/100Iowa 3.2United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesCass County value
Social associations · high17.5 /10k
96/100Iowa 14.3 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCass County value
Dentists · high107 /100k
92/100Iowa 73 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCass County value

Weaknesses

Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
3/100Iowa 4.0 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyCass County value
Students per teacher · high21.5×
4/100Iowa 14.1×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsCass County value
Pharmacies · low0.8 /10k
7/100Iowa 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCass County value
Broadband subscriptions · low84.2%
10/100Iowa 88.8%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Job growth · low-2.1%
12/100Iowa -0.1%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataCass County value
New homes permitted · low0.0 /1k
13/100Iowa 4.1 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

Broadband subscriptionsImproving
71.6% (2015-2019) → 84.2% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
43.4% (2015-2019) → 53.5% (2020-2024)
+10 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
High school diploma or higherImproving
84.6% (2015-2019) → 94.4% (2020-2024)
+9.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Median household incomeImproving
$41,542 (2015-2019) → $61,141 (2020-2024)
+47%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Average commute timeImproving
14.5 min (2015-2019) → 10.8 min (2020-2024)
−26%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Child poverty rateWorsening
24.2% (2015-2019) → 28.2% (2020-2024)
+4 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Atlantic, Iowa improved on 3 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 9 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved3

Household income+47%$41,542 → $61,141
Commute−3.7 min14.5 min → 10.8 min
Broadband+13 points71.6% → 84.2%

Declined1

Inequality+0.0620.420 → 0.482

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Atlantic, Iowa between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	14.5 min2015-2019	10.8 min2020-2024	−3.7 min	Improved	84%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.5%2015-2019	23.0%2020-2024	+1.5 points	Within the margin of error	39%
Broadband subscriptions	71.6%2015-2019	84.2%2020-2024	+13 points	Improved	71%
Child poverty rate	24.2%2015-2019	28.2%2020-2024	+4 points	Within the margin of error	23%
Effective property tax rate	1.90%2015-2019	1.52%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	82%
High school diploma or higher	84.6%2015-2019	94.4%2020-2024	+9.8 points	Within the margin of error	95%
Home price to income ratio	2.8×2015-2019	2.5×2020-2024	−0.3×	Within the margin of error	90%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4202015-2019	0.4822020-2024	+0.062	Declined	12%
Median household income	$41,5422015-2019	$61,1412020-2024	+47%	Improved	82%
Poverty rate	18.7%2015-2019	17.4%2020-2024	−1.3 points	Within the margin of error	56%
Rent as share of income	27.7%2015-2019	31.5%2020-2024	+3.8 points	Within the margin of error	28%
Rent-burdened households	43.4%2015-2019	53.5%2020-2024	+10 points	Within the margin of error	23%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	5.7%2015-2019	6.0%2020-2024	+0.3 points	Within the margin of error	43%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Atlantic, Iowa five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Atlantic, Iowa in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Atlantic, Iowa itself moved −0.4 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

6,763 residents (±18)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

3,261 households (±100)

Atlantic, Iowa
Iowa share

Under $25k24%769
$25k–50k19%618
$50k–75k18%580

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

3,261 households (±100)

Atlantic, Iowa
Iowa share

Own63%2,041
Rent37%1,220

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

3,539 workers (±211)

Atlantic, Iowa
Iowa share

Drive alone79%2,813
Carpool4.4%†154
Public transit0.1%†5

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Cass County, the county holding most of Atlantic's residents.

Cass County has 444 employer establishments, 338 for every 10,000 residents (1.36× the US rate of 248; 1.31× Iowa's), with 4,663 paid employees at an average annual pay of $43,964. The Census Bureau also counts 1,050 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 444; 1,050 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 338; US 248 · Iowa 259
Paid employees: 4,663
Average annual pay: $43,964; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Cass County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	29	22.1	1.43×More than typical	129	$66,729	86
Ambulatory health care services	27	20.6	0.99×About typical	126	$46,159	25
Restaurants and other eating places	23	17.5	0.95×About typical	324	$15,948	—
Insurance agencies and brokerages	19	14.5	3.30×More than typical	67	$46,224	29
Automotive repair and maintenance	18	13.7	2.72×More than typical	65	$40,969	27
Religious organizations	17	13	2.34×More than typical	50	$21,600	—
Truck transportation	15	11.4	2.26×More than typical	93	$52,892	46
Offices of other health practitioners	14	10.7	1.76×More than typical	48	$30,083	13
Banks and credit unions	12	9.1	2.83×More than typical	103	$57,563	—
Construction of buildings	12	9.1	1.21×About typical	31	$43,903	44
Gasoline stations	12	9.1	2.82×More than typical	155	$21,090	—
Lessors of real estate	12	9.1	0.74×Fewer than typical	22	$18,727	166

Rank places for an industry Open Cass County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 13,120 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $8,139 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Atlantic, Iowa: $1.20 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $8,139; +57% vs FY2025
Per resident: $1.20; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Environmental Protection Agency$8,139100%

Top recipients

ARROWHEAD CONTRACTING, LLC$8,139100%
EA ENGINEERING, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY, INC., PBC$00.0%

Spending by fiscal year

88.5KFY2017
101.2KFY2018
8.6KFY2019
-313.6FY2020
10.4KFY2021
1.6KFY2022
4.6KFY2023
5.7KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Remediation and other waste management services · 5629$8,139100%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Atlantic, Iowa, so they do not add up across cities.

Atlantic, Iowa's figures are part of those of Cass County, IA ($151.2K in FY2026), never added to them: 5.4% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Atlantic is mostly in Cass County.

See federal money in Cass County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Atlantic, Iowa is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Zachary NunnR-IA-3 · 100% of residentsWith party 95%Missed 4.6%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Cass County84100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Cass County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/1903520

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends